To Cook
In a wok, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and stir-fry until aromatic.
Add the chicken cubes and stir-fry until half cooked. Then, add curry powder, turmeric, cumin, sugar, black pepper, curry leaves and salt. Stir to mix well and allow to cook for another few minutes.
In the meantime, make a cornstarch slurry by mixing the chicken stock with 1 tbsp of cornstarch. Keep stirring while you pour the mixture into the chicken. Leave to simmer for a few minutes until the chicken mixture thickens. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool.
Cut each sheet of puff pastry into 6-8cm squares.
Spoon about 2 tbsp of filling onto each square. Then fold pastry diagonally to form a triangle, and press the edges together with you fingers. To make sure the edges are sealed, press the edges with a fork. Transfer curry puffs to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Repeat until all filling/pastry is used up.
Preheat oven to 200ºC.
Brush the curry puffs with egg wash, then bake for 15-20 mins, or until golden brown.
Set aside to cool before serving. Careful, the filling gets piping hot when fresh out of the oven.
Chicken
Baked Flaky BBQ Chicken Buns (Siew Pau)
To Prep the Filling
In a frying pan or wok, combine all ingredients except fried onions and cook for about 15 mins over medium-high heat.
Then, add fried onions and cook a further 5 mins.
Preparing the dough:
For Dough 1
Using a mixer, combine all Dough 1 ingredients and knead at medium-high speed for about 4-5 mins. Set aside.
For Dough 2
Then, combine ingredients for Dough 2 in the mixing bowl, and knead at medium-high speed for 1-2 mins. The texture should be quite firm. Do not over knead.
To Make the Siew Pao
Preheat oven to 200°C.
Portion Dough 2 into 3cm balls, and Dough 1 into 6cm balls. Individually wrap Dough 2 balls in Dough 1, then use a rolling pin to roll into an oblong strip. Roll up the strip of dough, turn 90° and roll out again with a rolling pin. Repeat 2-3 times for a flakier texture to the pastry. Roll up into a cylinder, then turn on its side and flatten into a round shape with rolling pin.
Fill dough with 2 tsps filling, gather the edges to the center to wrap around the filling, and seal the edges.
Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 mins at 200°C, then remove and brush with egg yolk and milk mixture. Return to oven for another 10 mins. Remove and serve.
Thai Spicy Basil Stir Fried with Chicken (Gai Pad Kaprow)
To Cook
Heat oil over low heat. Add Valcom Basil Stir-Fry Paste and stir-fry until fragrant.
Add chicken and stir-fry over high heat until cooked. Stir in fish sauce, sugar and water.
Garnish with basil leaves, then remove from heat.
Karaage Amazu Chicken
To Cook
Marinate the chicken thigh with soy sauce and set aside.
Combine mirin seasoning, rice wine vinegar, salt, water and sugar in a pot and bring to the boil. Turn to medium heat and cook until the liquid thickens.
Cool the mixture until cold, add lemon juice, coriander, long red chilli and crushed peanuts, mix well.
Coat the marinated chicken thigh fillet with tempura batter mix and tap off excess flour. Heat vegetable oil to 175°C and fry until crispy and cooked through.
To serve, place chicken fillet on a sharing plate and pour over sauce. Serve hot.
Asian Chicken Salad in a Jar
To Cook
In a bowl, add ½ tbsp sesame oil, ½ tbsp soy sauce, honey and chicken pieces. Mix well to coat chicken pieces evenly with marinade.
Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Pan-fry chicken strips until fully cooked through. Then, set aside to cool.
In a small pot, blanch bok choy, enoki mushroom and corn. Then, set aside to cool
Gather all the ingredients and prepare two clean jars.
Assemble your jars by layering – green and red cabbage, enoki mushroom, chicken slices, bok choy, carrot, more cabbage and corn. Drizzle leftover oil from the pan into the jars if desired. Seal the jars and refrigerate up to 3-5 days.
When you’re ready to eat, dig in or, empty jar contents into a bowl, and add any dressing, salt or pepper if desired.
Teriyaki Jar
To Cook
In a bowl, add 5 tbsp teriyaki sauce to chicken tenderloins. Set aside to marinate for 5 mins.
In the meantime, add sushi rice seasoning to rice and mix well.
Add 1 tbsp oil to a pan, and heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken tenderloins and pan-fry for 5-10 mins, or until meat is fully cooked through. Then, set chicken pieces aside to cool. Once cooled, slice to bite-sized pieces.
Gather all the ingredients and prepare four clean jars.
Start assembling by adding 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce to each jar. Then, add ingredients layer by layer – chicken pieces, cucumber, red cabbage, corn, shiitake mushroom, seaweed salad, sushi rice, and top with pickled ginger and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
Refrigerate jars up to 5 days. Enjoy meal straight from the jar or, empty all contents into a bowl and tuck in!
Bang Bang Chicken
To Cook
Bring 5L water to the simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat, plunge in chicken, cook for 10-20 seconds, then rinse under cold running water (discard water).
Transfer chicken to a clean saucepan and add Shaoxing wine, ginger, ½ tsp sea salt and top up with enough cold water to cover generously.
Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat to low-medium and gently simmer until chicken is cooked through for 1-1¼ hours.
Remove from heat and let chicken cool completely in liquid for about 3-4 hours.
Coarsely shred meat (discard skin, bones and sinew) and transfer to a bowl.
While the chicken is cooling, make the dressing. Combine ginger, garlic and 120ml hot water in a bowl and stand to infuse (20 min).
Pass through a fine sieve (discard solids) into a clean bowl, add remaining ingredients and set aside.
Blanch bean sprouts in a saucepan of simmering water until just wilted for about 5 secs.
Refresh in iced water, drain well and place over a serving platter.
Top the chicken, drizzle the dressing, garnish with spring onion and sesame seeds and serve at room temperature.
Vietnamese Chicken Salad (Goi Ga Bap Cai)
To Cook
Rub the chicken with salt and smashed ginger to remove the strong smell, then clean the chicken inside out with water.
To cook the chicken, bring water to a boil and add chicken. And add 1 tsp salt and half a peeled onion for about 15 – 20 mins until it’s cooked through.
Cut the onion into thin slices and soak into cold water. Cut the cabbage in quarters, then cut off the core at the 45 degree angle to create a base, to keep the cabbage piece stable when we shred it into strips.
When the chicken is cooked through, take it out and let it cool completely before shredding the chicken into pieces.
To make the salad dressing, in a bowl, mix together 2 tbsp sugar with 3 tbsp fish sauce. Also squeeze in 1-2 tbsp lime juice. Give it a good stir and then add minced garlic and chili.
To assemble the salad, combine 1 cup shredded chicken with 3 tbsp dressings, some cracked pepper and lime leaves. Mix well and add 1 cup of shredded carrots, 1 cup of sliced onion and 2 cups of shredded cabbage. Add more dressing. Give it a good toss.
Add 1 cup of the chopped Vietnamese mint at the last step. Transfer it to a serving plate, top with some fried shallots, cracked pepper and some chillies.
Simmered Chicken and Vegetables (Chikuzenni)
To Cook
Mix and marinate chicken with spices.
Cut carrots and lotus root and marinate in 2 cups water with ½ tsp vinegar for 10 mins.
Prepare taro and wash with cold water. Remove the stringy edge from the snow peas. Boil them for a few mins.
Pull the burdock root’s skin with the back of knife and slice finely. Then, make an incision in the center of the konnyaku and turn inside out.
In a pot, sauté chicken for 2 mins. Then, add carrot, taro, lotus root, shiitake, burdock root, and the combination of mixed spices for chikuzenni. Boil for 40 mins.
Garnish with snow peas and serve.
Boxing Chicken
To Prep
Rinse and clean drummettes. Pluck and remove any remaining feathers.
Using a sharp knife, carefully cut around the smaller end. Stand the fatter end on the chopping board and use the knife to push the skin and meat down (to the fatter end). The drummet will now look like a ‘boxing’ hand. Repeat with the rest.
In a bowl, add all ingredients for marinade and the drummettes. Mix to coat well and set aside to marinade for 2-3 hours.
To Cook
Heat oil in frying pan over high heat. To test if the oil is hot enough, dip the tips of a bamboo chopstick into the oil. Oil that is ready for frying will bubble around the chopstick tip.
In a separate bowl, mix all ingredients for coating. Coat each drummet, and carefully slide them into the frying pan. Cook until golden brown then drain on paper towel before serving.
Best served hot with chilli sauce on the side.
Rice Crackers with Minced Chicken Dip (Khaw Tang Na Tang)
To Cook
Heat oil and fry rice crackers a few pieces at a time over medium flame till crispy and golden in colour. Set aside and drain.
Pound together chilli, coriander root, garlic and peppercorns till fine.
Heat coconut milk in a pot but do not bring to a boil. Add pounded mixture, minced chicken and prawns. Stir to avoid lumps.
Add sugar and fish sauce. When cooked, add peanuts and shallots.
Garnish with parsley before serving.
Shortcut Chicken with Black Bean Sauce
To Cook
Heat up some oil in a wok and stir fry garlic until aromatic
Stir in chicken fillet until almost cooked.
Open up the black bean sauce and stir in together with the chicken until cooked.
Switch off fire on gas stove and stir in the 3cm long spring onions.
Garnish some spring onions on top and serve with hot rice.